MAKING A DIFFERENCE

We’ve had so many proud moments since we set up OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity, but today is a very special one as we are able to share news of the impact of everyone’s hard work and efforts to make a difference to the fight against paediatric brain tumours.

Alongside the Brain Tumour Charity, we have funded a trial that provides the ability to give children treatment that is tailored specifically to their tumour. This is a huge step forward in the management of brain tumours as it means that children with certain types of medulloblastoma can receive less toxic chemotherapy and a lower dose of radiotherapy without reducing their chance of survival. The results of this trial could spare many young patients from some of the lifelong health problems caused by high doses of chemotherapy, and it’s making an impact already.

When Oscar died, we made the decision to set up a charity in his name in the hope that we could have an influence on other children not going through what he did. It wasn’t a decision we took lightly and we gave it a lot of consideration. We had raised a huge sum of money from our friends, family and extended network when we thought we would be able to send Oscar to America for life saving treatment, and we wanted this money to be used to change how children with brain tumours are treated in the future – and ultimately save lives . I’ve met many other parents who have also lost a child to a brain tumour and it seems that many of them consider going down this route too. The Brain Tumour Charity offers lots of different ways that families can remember their loved ones. We considered going down the route of setting up supporter group with The Brain Tumour Charity in Oscar’s name – they have over 250 of these groups, which all raise funds and awareness to change the outcomes for those affected by brain tumours both now and in the future.

But in the end we decided to set up our own charity for Oscar because we wanted to focus on paediatric tumours. It’s hard work at times, often very emotional, but always very rewarding. We’ve been going for almost four years and have raised over £300k. We’ve grown from doing a couple of small local events in York to running larger scale events ourselves, and now people we’ve never met have been touched by Oscar’s story and raise money in his name. We have people who run marathons, climb mountains, swim across lakes and cycle across countries. There’s children who push themselves further than they (and their parents) ever thought possible, and parents who take time out of their busy lives to help their children take part in activities to raise money that will fund critical research into brain tumours. And it’s so wonderful to be able to say that we are really making a difference and changing lives.

Thank you to everyone who has ever supported us. Oscar would be so proud to see what we’ve all done together.